Toothed conveyor belt



.1 United States Patent Inventor i [5 6] References Cited Germany pp No768,278 3,485,707 12/1969 Spicer l98/l93X [22] Filed Oct. 17, 1968Primary Examiner-Edward A. Sroka [45] Patented Nov. 3, 1970Attorney-Richards & Geier I I ABSTRACT: An endless conveyor belt has areinforcement.

[ TQOTHEDCONVEYOR BELT on both sides of which regularly spacedtransverse tooth n cmmlhgnnwiu blocks with transverse holds arearranged. lnto these holes [52] [1.8. CI...L 198/193 rods are insertedtheends of which are joined with one [51] Int. 3653 15/30 another andwith a supporting member of the conveyor ele- (50] Field Search 198/177, ment by connecting members arranged on both sides of the beltparallel to one another.

ll 'roornsn CONVEYORBELT DESCRIPTION This invention relates to a toothedconveyor belt with regularly spaced transverse tooth blocks of anelastic material belts in these constructions are subjected to heavycharges, for,

instance by high rotation speeds and/orby heavy loads, the

centrifugal forces or the'stressof the conveyor units exerted on thetransverse rods may lead to deformation of the trans- .ver'se rods. Thisis the caseparticularly if there is a lever arm .of some length betweenthe point of engagement of the conveyor units to the transverse rods andthe reinforcements of f'the toothed belt at the end of the rods. Thelever arm causes {the transverse'rods to be subjected to large-bendingmoments while passing deflection points of the belt assembly or onaccount of the weights carried by the conveyor units. The bend ingstresses can permanently deform the rods when heavy charges areexerted.7

It is an object of the present invention to provide a toothed conveyorbelt of the the above described type in which the attachment of theconveyor'units to the belt is made in such a manner that largecentrifugal forces and/or weight charges can be absorbed without anyrisk of permanent deformation of the transverse rods.

To this end, connecting pieces for the'carrying rods for the conveyorunits are arranged vertically of the supporting members inserted intothe transverse grooves of the toothed belt and bear against these.Inthis manner, the centrifugalforces of the single conveyor units arevia their carrying rods and the connecting pieces bearing against themindirectly transmitted into the reinforcement of the toothed belt,allowing for only short lever arms between the reinforcement and thedeflection points of the belt assembly. It is therefore possible thatthe toothed belt resists relatively large forces in spite of smallcutlay in material.

The transverse grooves of the toothed belt are preferably provided, inpairs on the upper and lower sides of its reinforcement. Inserted intoeach transverse groove is a rod-shaped supporting member. The pair ofsupporting members is by a pair of the above-mentioned connecting piecesin communication with the carrying rod for the conveyor unit.

The respective ends of the two supporting members project out of thegroovesand'are connected with each other by the above-mentionedconnecting pieces, which extend parallel of each other and areclip-shapedThe connecting pieces extend upwards beyond the top of thetooth block of the belt and in this upper portion are kept together bythe carrying rod for the conveyor unit. The connecting pieces may besunk into lateral excavations of the toothed belt the depth of which issuch that the clip-shaped connecting pieces and the ends of therodshaped supporting members do not protrude over the lateral surfacesof the tooth blocks of the belt. In this'manner it is assured that themovement of the belt over the chain wheels produces only relativelylittle noise.

In a modified embodiment, the connecting pieces for the carrying rodsare placed within the toothed belt in between its reinforcement and arein form-locking gear,for instance by a screwing, with the supportingmembers. The supporting member may be plate-shaped and may be mounted atthe lower, side of a tooth blockfilt should be provided with a threadedbore forthe bolt-shaped connecting piece. In order that the supportingmember may be used as aslide shoe in case the belt is guided over atable plate it is advantageous to provide it exchangeably at-the bottomof the tooth block,

preferably covering the whole of its bottom surface, and to manufactureit of a materialwith good running features.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be explained in thefollowing detailed description in which reference is made to theaccompanying drawings showing, in a simplified manner, a variety ofembodiments of the toothed conveyor belt according to the invention. Inthe drawings:

FIG. 1 is a lateral view of an embodiment of a toothed conveyorbeltaccording to the invention with lateral clip-like connecting pieces;

FIG. 2 is a section taken along line ll-ll of F IG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross section of a modified embodiment with two connectingpieces arranged within the toothed conveyor belt in between itsreinforcement;

FIG. 4 is a variation of FIG 3;

FIG. 5 is a cross section of another embodiment with a connecting pieceimbedded in the toothed belt;

FIG. 6 is a variation of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a cross section of another modification with two connectingpieces sunk into the toothed belt at both its lateral surfaces;

FlG.-8 is a variation of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a cross section of yet another modified embodiment withconnecting pieces completely imbedded in the toothed belt.

In the embodimentof FIGS. 1 and 2, a toothed belt 1, which consists ofan elastic material such as rubber, isprovided with a tension-proofreinforcement 2 which is composed of a plurality of parallel steel wiresand extends in the neutral zone of the upper tooth blocks 4 and lowertooth blocks 3. Near the upper and lower sides of reinforcement 2cylindrical transverse grooves 5 and 6 are provided which accommodaterodshaped supporting members 7 and 8 respectively. The ends of thesupporting members7 and 8 project at both sides out of the tooth blocks3 and 4 and are joined with each other by clip-shaped side bars orconnecting members 9 and 9' which upwardly extend beyond the uppersurface of tooth block 4 and have respective bore holes 11, guided inwhich is a rodshaped carrying member 12 for the conveyor unit, forinstance a container, which is not shown in any of the FIGS. of thedrawings, and is adapted to be suspended to member 12 by a book 13,shown in FIG. 1. The carrying member 12 is therefore located above, or,depending on the position of the toothed belt, sometimes below the toothblock 4 0r 3. The conveyor unit to be suspended to the belt assemblymay, alternatively, be attached directly to the side bars 9, 9'. Sunkinto the lateral surface of tooth blocks 3 and 4 are recesses .14 ofsuch depth that the side bars 9 and 9' and the ends of the bar-shapedsupporting members 7 and 8 as well as carrying member 12 do not projectover the lateral surface of the toothed belt. Thus the recesses 14 areformed in the lateral surfaces of the tooth blocks 3 and 4 and receivedthe plates 9 and 9.

By the forces emanating from the conveyor unit the rodshaped carryingmember 12 is mainly exposed to shearing impacts, and the side bars 9 and9' are under tensile stress. From the side bars 9 and 9' the forces aretransmitted to the wires of reinforcement 2 via the rod-shapedsupporting member 7 or 8, depending on the direction of deflection orposition of the belt. There are, therefore, no large bending moments inthis area.

As the side bars .9 and 9' are imbedded in the respective recesses 14 ofthe lateral surface of tooth blocks 3 and 4 the toothed belt is givenlateral support mainly at the remaining lateral surfaces of tooth blocks3 and 4 by the sprocket wheels which serve as guide or drive wheels.This causes a rotation of the belt on the sprocket wheels of low noiselevel and of little wearability.

In the embodiment of FIG. 3, rods 15 and 16 are mounted withinthetransverse grooves '5 and 6 on the upper and lower sides ofreinforcement 2 to be used as supporting members for two parallelbolt-shaped connecting pieces 17 and which extend at right angles ofrods 15 and 16 and are at their lower ends provided with threads gearingwith threaded bores 19 of the supporting rods and 16. The upper ends 18of the two connecting pieces I7, whichextend beyond the upper surface ofthe tooth block 4 of belt -1, are used as carrying members for aconveyor unit not shown in the drawing. Parts 17 are arranged invertical grooves 20 pervading the upper tooth block 4 in between thesingle wires of reinforcement 2.

In FIG. 4, the two bolt-shaped connecting pieces 1.7 are mounted outsidethe wires of reinforcement 2 of belt I, and their threaded ends arescrewed into the threaded bore 19 of the rodshaped supporting member 16which is inserted into the transverse groove 6 below reinforcement 2..

In the embodiment of FIG. 5, the toothed belt is in the same manner asin FIG. 4 p'rovided with a single transverse groove 6 beneathreinforcement 2, inserted into which is a rod-shaped supporting member21 having a threaded bore 22 which is arranged in the center axis of thetoothed belt I. Screwed into bore 22 is the lower threaded end of abolt-shaped connecting piece 23, the upper end 24 of which projectsbeyond the upper surface of tooth block 4 and is adapted to be connectedto a carrying member for the conveyor unit. The connecting piece 23 isaccommodated in a grove 25 of tooth block 4, which extends downwards toreach the threaded bore 22.

The modified embodiment of FIG. 6 differs from the one of FIG. 5 in thatthe supporting member 21 of FIG. 5 is replaced by a plate 26 which'issunk into a transverse recess 27 at the lower surface of tooth block 3and which in its center portion is provided with a threaded bore 28 intowhich the bolt-shaped connecting piece 23 is screwed. The plate 26 maybe designed as a slide shoe and for this purpose may be made of anartifi' cial material of good slide characteristics, such as polyamide.The plate 26 is preferably fastened to the recess 27 in such a mannerthat it may be easily detached from its seat when wear and tearnecessitate its exchange. It is advantageous that the plate 26 coversthe entire surface of block 3, which is a protection for the toothedbelt, being of importance, for instance, in case it is guided over atable plate.

The toothed belt shown in FIG. 7 is at either side provided with aclip-shaped connecting piece 30 which is sunk into a recess of itslateral surface and has a projection 31 extending beyond this lateralsurface. The projection 31 is used as the carrying member for theconveyor unit. The two opposite connecting pieces 30 are joined togetherby two bolt-shaped sup-. porting members 32 which are inserted into thelateral grooves S and 6 at both sides of reinforcement 2.

In FIG. 8, the clip-shapedconnecting piece 30 is attached only to oneside of belt 1, whereas the portion of the belt near the opposite sideis provided with a connecting piece 33 in the shape of a screw boltwhich is screwed into a threaded bore 34 of the two supporting members32 inserted into the transverse grooves 5 and 6. The bore 34 in whichthe connecting piece 33 is accommodated extends from the upper toothblock 4 to the transverse groove 6 underneath reinforcement 2. Thecarrying member for the conveyor unit is in this modification formed bythe upper end 35 of connecting piece 33, which projects over the uppersurface of tooth block 4.

FIG. 9 represents another modification in which the carrying members forthe conveyor unit are formed by the respective ends 18 of the twobolt-shaped connecting pieces 17 similar to FIG. 3; these ends are fullysunk into two respective recesses 36 of the upper block 4 of belt I andhave threaded bores 37 into which theconveyor unit may be screwed to beattached to the belt. The other parts ofthis embodiment are inaccordance with FIG; 4.

Having thus described my invention, it is understood that theembodiments shown in the drawings and referred to in this specificationare to be understood as examples only and other combinations of partsare fully within the scope of the invention and the appended claims.

I claim: g

l. A toothed conveyor belt, comprising tooth blocks of an elasticmaterial, a reinforcement imbedded into the material of the belt,transverse recesses in said blocks, supporting members inserted insaidrecesses and proecting over the lateral edge of the belt, a carryingelement 0 a conveyor umt arranged outside said tooth block, andconnecting members joining the ends of said supporting members with oneanother and with said carrying element of the conveyor unit, saidconnecting members are arranged parallel to one another on both sides ofthe toothed belt.

2. A toothed conveyor belt in accordance with claim 1 in which thetransverse recesses are provided at either side of the reinforcement ofthe toothed belt and enclose two bar-shaped supporting members.

3. A toothed conveyor belt in accordance with claim 2 in which thesupporting members are joined with each other and with the carryingelement of a conveyor unit by means of clipshaped connecting pieces.

4. A toothed conveyor belt in accordance with claim 3 in which theclip-shaped connecting pieces are laterally sunk into the toothed beltin such a manner that they do not project over the lateral surfaces ofthe tooth blocks.

5. A toothed conveyor belt according to claim 3 wherein the clip-shapedconnecting pieces project over the upper surface of the upper toothblock of said toothed belt and are joined together in this area by acarrying member for the conveyor unit.

6. A toothed conveyor belt according to claim 3 wherein the clip-shapedconnecting pieces are provided with lateral projections which areadapted to form carrying elements for the conveyor unit. 7

7. A toothed conveyor belt according to claim 2 wherein the connectingpieces are arranged between the reinforcement of the toothedbelt-'and'are in form-locking gear with the supporting members.

8. A toothed conveyor belt according to claim 2 wherein the supportingmember isof plate-like shape and is arranged at the lower sideof a toothblock of the belt.

9. A toothed conveyor belt according to claim I wherein the respectiveends of the bolt-shaped connecting pieces which are adapted to formcarrying elements for the conveyor are imbedded in a recess of the toothblock.

10. A toothed conveyor belt according to claim 8 in which theplate-shaped supporting member is constructed as a slide shoe.

11. A toothed conveyor belt according to claim 8 in which the supportingmember is exchangeably arranged at the tooth block and covers its headsurface.

